Franz Böhm (born in 1999) is a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winning British-German film director and producer.

Biography

Böhm was born in 1999 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His grandmother fled from

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

to escape

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. When he was eleven years old, his father died in a motorcycle accident. Böhm started working on numerous films and commercials as a runner or production assistant. At the age of 16, he directed his first short film, Harmony of Others, which explores the interactions of young people from different social backgrounds. This was followed in 2017 by the medium-length, fictionalized documentary Christmas Wishes, which tells the stories of two homeless individuals in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. For the film, Böhm spent a week living with homeless people. The project opened the 2017 BW Youth Film Award and won accolades at various film festivals. Böhm made his international debut in 2019 with the short film Good Luck. The film premiered at the British Independent Film Festival 2019, where it won the award for “Best Cinematography”. He made his feature film debut in 2021 with the documentary Dear Future Children. The film won the Audience Award at its world premiere at the Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival and at its subsequent Swiss premiere at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, setting multiple records in the process. The 89 minute film was also nominated at several of the world's largest international documentary film festivals, including CPH:DOX. At Hot Docs International Film Festival, the film won the audience award. The film focuses on the subject of young, international activism through the experiences of three activists from

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Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, and

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. The project was funded via a campaign on Kickstarter.com, which raised €22,039 from 391 backers. In 2022, Böhm became the youngest director to win both the Audience Award and the Grand Prize at the German Documentary Film Award. Böhm completed his master's degree in directing at the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2024 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repo ...

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His graduation film

Rock, Paper, Scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...

won in the Best British Short Film category at the 2025 BAFTA AwardsIt is based on the true story of a young Ukrainian soldier who Böhm met in the UK. The film stars the Ukrainian actor Oleksandr Rudynskyi. A British production, Rock, Paper, Scissors premiered at the Show Me Shorts Film Festival in

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on 13th October 2024, an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

®-qualifying festival. It later screened at several prestigious international festivals, including the

British Urban Film Festival The British Urban Film Festival (BUFF) was formed in July 2005 to showcase urban independent cinema in the absence of any such state-sponsored activity in the UK. Supported by filmmakers and British actors, the organisation was set up by Em ...

, Aesthetica Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, and

Norwich Film Festival Norwich Film Festival is a BAFTA and British Independent Film Awards, BIFA qualifying short film festival founded in 2009 and held in Norwich, England, which showcases films by local, national and international filmmakers, both independent film ...

in the UK. It also gained recognition at the St. Louis International Film Festival in the United States, where it was nominated for the Audience Award for Best Live Action Short Film, another Oscar-qualifying category.

Filmography (selection)

* 2016: ''Harmonie der Anderen'' (short film) * 2018: ''Christmas Wishes'' * 2019: ''Good Luck'' (short film) * 2021: '' Dear Future Children'' * 2024: ''

'' (short film)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Böhm, Franz 1999 births Living people German film directors Alumni of the National Film and Television School